About

Hi, my name Sowjanya Kudva, and I’m a queer, 1st generation South Asian filmmaker who is passionate about making self-representative media. I recently finished a 40-minute documentary, All of Us North Carolina, about queer people of color who led the fight against North Carolina’s Amendment One, a piece of legislation that stripped domestic partnerships of their civil rights in 2012. The All of Us organizers took a unique electoral position by educating and encouraging queers to think beyond gay marriage, cultivating an inclusive campaign fought at the intersection of many social justice movements. Instead of looking at Amendment One as a win or lose battle, the organizers saw an opportunity to build leadership by holding workshops that give their community access to the language of activism and empower them to become organizers.

I am working to push the visibility of this film by holding various screenings in North Carolina and around the country. I am also expanding this film by building this online platform that’s re-imagining the concept of documentary, allowing the story to continue in an interactive and ever-growing space. This transmedia platform will connect queer people to the history and legacy of their own culture and give them entry into a vibrant, Southern, queer, organizing infrastructure.

I need your help to make this possible. I am aiming to raise $10,000. With your contribution I will

further develop the narrative of the film by offering deleted scenes and gathering stories that the camera didn’t capture.

develop an educational toolkit that connects the narrative of the film to queer history and current social justice issues.

distribute the film and toolkit through the online platform, allowing folks to hold their own screenings and use the toolkit as a discussion guide.

offer sliding-scale access of the film to high schools, colleges, and places throughout the South that might lack community and organizing infrastructure.

establish a resources page where people can access organizations that amplify queer history and cultivate social justice work in the South.

If we go above and beyond our fundraising goal, we can

hold more screenings in the South!

pay for Spanish subtitling, color correction and sound mixing.

pay the crew for their hard work and the time they offered out of passion for this project. I made this film on a total budget of $1500. The queer community in North Carolina banded together and donated equipment, food, and time to make this film a possibility.

Thank you for your time. Please support this film and spread the word!

Quote

“All of Us NC moved me deeply and gave me an instructive tool to help social justice activists understand that progress comes in many legitimate forms. Watch it to learn how to squeeze the best results out of attack and loss.”
– Rinku Sen, Executive Director of the Applied Research Center and Publisher of Colorlines.com

Donate

Please consider donating to this project. With small donations of $10 or more, we can create more content and curriculum. Check out the About page to learn more about where this project is headed. Donate

Contact

Sowjanya Kudva
sowj (at) sowjfilms (dot) com

I am a queer, South Asian filmmaker who believes that well-made, self-representative media is key to building powerful queer communities.

I would love to hear from you! Please feel free to contact me at sowj (at) sowjfilms (dot) com if you have questions, comments, or you want to bring this film to your community.